Both are from the Rockford area and died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Winnebago County Coroner's Office.

Witnesses told police that a dark SUV had left the party at a high rate of speed after shots were fired. Police tracked the vehicle to Rockford Memorial Hospital where a male driver dropped off a man who had been wounded by gunfire.

“When officers went to engage that vehicle, it sped off south on Edgemont (Street) and went three to four blocks where it crashed into a snow bank,” Hoey said. “The male driver fled on foot and was quickly apprehended. When the vehicle was searched, a deceased female gunshot victim (Mitchell) was found in the front seat of the car.”

The driver was hospitalized for treatment of minor injuries suffered in the crash, Hoey said. The man who was dropped at the hospital is expected to survive gunshot wounds he suffered.

Later, a man called authorities from a residence in the 1300 block of Sixth Avenue claiming to have been shot while near the residence. However, after investigating, detectives believe that man was actually shot and wounded while on Oakley Street. He was taken to SwedishAmerican Hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.

No arrests have been announced.

Rockford Police Department Lt. John Hoeksema estimated that nearly 20 detectives were working the case overnight and throughout Wednesday.

At one point Tuesday night, it was incorrectly reported that three were dead. The identities of the two surviving gunshot victims have not been released.

The killings were the second and third Rockford homicides of 2015.

Auburn High School freshman Jazz Fort, 15, was shot in the head and killed early Jan. 2 while standing with friends in the parking lot of Fairgrounds Valley housing project.

Her killing came soon after the Dec. 20 quadruple homicide in which young mother and dental assistant Martia Flint, 24, her children, Tyrone Smith III, 6, and Tobias K. Smith, 4, and her boyfriend Demontae Rhodes, 24, were killed inside a residence in the 3200 block of Montrose Avenue.

Calvin L. Carter, 22, who briefly dated Flint, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the quadruple homicide.

The four deaths drove up the number of Rockford homicides in 2014 to 18, still down from the 22 recorded in 2013 but more than the 14 killings recorded in 2012, according to a Rockford Register Star database.

Also on Tuesday, about the same time as the homicides, there was a home invasion reported about a mile north in the 3500 block of Gilbert Avenue. A homeowner apparently foiled a break-in and then exchanged gunfire with an unspecified number of suspects, according to the Rockford Police Department. Police do not believe the home invasion is connected to the shootings on Oakley.

In another incident, 12 to 15 shots were fired about 8:50 p.m. in an 11th Street alley between 12th Avenue and Broadway. Police said vehicles and a garage were struck by the gunfire.

Mayor Larry Morrissey announced Wednesday evening that he and Police Chief Chet Epperson, Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana and the Rev. K. Edward Copeland will host a news confernce at 2:15 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium of the Chicago Rockford International Airport to address concerns about the recent crimes.

Register Star reporter Chris Green contributed to this report.

Jeff Kolkey: 815-987-1374; jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey

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